This invention relates to a method for forming a fibre reinforced body and to a body formed according to the method. The method is particularly applicable to glass fibre reinforced pultrusions which are integrally connected by the method to a casting formed of a plastic material or are reformed on their ends into various end shapes for connection to co-operating parts. Pultrusions and extrusions using fibreglass reinforcement have been known for many years and have, for that period, had problems of connection of the pultrusion or extrusion to a further body.
Extrusions and pultrusions of this type necessarily have parallel walls often in the form of rods or bars and it has not been possible to form a portion of increased cross section for connection to tools or other members with which the rod or bar is to be operated. In addition, the connection of the extruded or pultruded member to other members to form a complex structure has been difficult.
The industry has always resorted to various adhesives and to various materials for the additional member which shrink on setting so as to tightly clamp the pultruded or extruded member. Combinations of adhesive and the shrink-setting materials have been used. However, none of these solutions have been readily effective, most particularly in relation to firmly securing tools or other members to a pultruded rod. Examples of such devices are sucker rods, guy and anchoring members, dead-end hydro insulators. The problem in this connection is quite complex and relates to tensile cycles, to failure and interlaminar shear as all glue at connections is simply fixed to the outer sheath of fibres on the profile. These fibres pick up the loading forces first and often fail and shear away from the rest of the profile.